Press Release: Media General has blocked DISH customers in Mobile and Pensacola from accessing WKRG (CBS channel 5) as the two parties continue to negotiate a new carriage agreement.
“We’ve attempted to reach a fair agreement via many avenues, but Media General remains immovable in its demands,” said Sruta Vootukuru, DISH director of programming. “They declined a contract extension, an offer from DISH to pay our competitors’ rates, and have now refused our willingness to match rates paid to other area broadcasters. Media General is overreaching by trying to force DISH customers to pay more than their neighbors.”
Media General rejected DISH’s offer of a short-term contract extension until Media General is acquired by Young Broadcasting, a broadcaster with which DISH has a long-term agreement in place.
At this time, the Richmond, Va.-based broadcaster has refused DISH the legal right to carry its programming until DISH agrees to pay more than five times what it currently pays for the same content.
“The impact of blackouts on consumers should be the focus of retransmission reform in Washington,” said Dave Shull, DISH executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “The outdated carriage rules have resulted in an historic number of blackouts with millions of subscribers impacted. It is time for reform.”
DISH has issued a proposal to Congress, backed by industry members, which would allow pay-TV providers to substitute another broadcast station during contract negotiations.
“The laws should keep consumers’ interest at the forefront instead of leaving them left in the dark while broadcasters take advantage of outdated rules. The broken system allows broadcasters to use their viewers to seek unsustainable profits instead of seeking to serve their viewers and their communities,” said Shull.
Last year, broadcasting companies across the country blacked out 91 channels on various pay-TV companies at various times; and an industry watchdog group, the American Television Alliance, has also called for the U.S. Congress to “revamp the out-of-date rules” that favor those blackouts.